Chipotle sweet potato soup with spiced pecans

Tonight I made one of my favorite soups, a thick sweet potato soup made fiery and smoky with chipotles. I make this soup often in the cold-weather months, but for some reason I’ve never shared it with you. Well that’s about to change.

I’ll be going home next week and with my clothes a bit snug and my complexion splotchy, I decided to do a quick, two-day detox before the holidays. Over the weekend I drank furry apple juice spiked with cayenne, sipped dandelion tea mixed with lots of lemon and ginger, and downed the occasional glass of almond milk for a bit of protein.

I didn’t have much energy, so I just lay on the couch reading my friend’s new book. The weather was mild with high temperatures and gentle breezes, so in the afternoons I’d go for walks by the river. I made up this regime, so I don’t know if I was following proper detox form, but after a couple of days I was less puffy and possessed a sense of peace and restfulness I hadn’t had for quite a while.

But enough about my detox—you want to know about the chipotle sweet potato soup! It’s recommended when you conclude a detox that you shouldn’t overburden your system. So smoked brisket and a big bowl of queso—no matter how much I was craving them—were out of the question. In my refrigerator, however, were some sweet potatoes. And I knew that this quick soup would be a fine, fine way to re-enter the land of the eating. There’s not much to it, you just throw together your aromatics, the chopped sweet potatoes, some chipotles and spices, pour in some chicken broth and let it cook. After about half an hour, let it cool a bit and then puree it. Ladle it into bowls and serve.

I like to top it with sour cream and some chipotle-cinnamon roasted pecans, for a bit of cream and crunch. But honestly, this soup is equally fine on its own.

After Thanksgiving, if you have leftover sweet potatoes, this is a wonderful way to use them. Or this soup would also make for a stunning starter. Though you don’t really need a special occasion to eat it. I find that I love it best on those cool, quiet evenings when I’m seeking something simple and satisfying. And this chipotle sweet potato soup always does the trick.

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Chipotle sweet potato soup with spiced pecans

Servings8

AuthorLisa Fain

Ingredients

Ingredients for the soup:

1tablespoonof olive oil

1medium yellow onion, diced

2ribs celery, diced

2carrots, peeled and diced

4clovesgarlic, minced

2poundssweet potatoes, about 2 large, peeled and cubed

4cupschicken or vegetable broth

2 to 4canned chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped

1teaspoonground ginger

1teaspoonground cinnamon

1/2teaspoonground cloves

1/2teaspoonground nutmeg

2 tablespoonsfreshly squeezed lime juice

Salt

Black pepper

Sour creamfor serving

Ingredients for the pecans:

2tablespoonsunsalted butter

1cupchopped pecans

1/2teaspooncinnamon

1/4teaspoonchipotle powder

Salt

Instructions

Heat the olive oil on medium low in a large soup pot, and cook the onions, celery and carrot for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.

Add the sweet potatoes, broth, chipotles, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg to the pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender. Turn off the heat and let the soup cool for 10

minutes.

As the soup cools you can make the pecans. Melt the butter in a skillet on low heat. Add the pecans and stir them until they are covered in the butter. Add the cinnamon and chipotle powder and stir to coat. Cook the pecans, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

In batches, puree the cooled soup in the blender. If you prefer, you can use an immersion blender in the pot instead. Once the soup has been pureed, stir in the lime juice and add salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream and some of the chopped cinnamon-chipotle pecans.

Well, that sounds so good! I imagine the addition of the lime juice really makes the soup bright yet earthy. Those pecans, by the way, sound like good New Years Eve party food … they would be very popular with some bubbly!

I'm a homesick Texan (and huge fan of your blog) currently living in Cairo, Egypt and planning a seriously multicultural Thanksgiving dinner for next week. This recipe will definitely be on the list. Can't wait to try it! It sounds amazing

That sounds lovely! On Sunday I hosted a "fake-Thanksgiving" and made braised sweet potatoes that I cooked in a braising liquid of Malta (a latin malt soda), chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and chicken broth. They came out fantastic and are basically the same ingredients in your soup. I should just blitz the leftovers up into a soup.

Your detox sounds quite lovely, btw. I love a good juice fast every now and then. I usually do a mix of green juices and cayenne lemonade with a pecan or almond milk with cinnamon just before bed. I might do one this weekend, actually (I'm definitely feeling a bit puffy…).

oh, good gracious. i have vegetable barley soup simmering in a pot right now, but this makes me wanna toss it to the side and start over. i won't…but i'm tempted. i cannot imagine a more tempting combo than sweet potatoes and chipotle. i am 31 weeks pregnant. feeling miserable. i will make this for myself tomorrow. i think it'll be a better day than today 🙂

I've been real depressed about Thanksgiving this year, because now my parents are in a nursing home, and we can't take them out for the day. So, Lane (my 5yr old son that I've told you about) and I are going to eat lunch there with them. But, I want to fix us some sort of Thanksgiving at home-because I'm Texan and it would just break the law if I didn't! ha! So, I'm more spirited after seeing this! This year we're going to have a Tex Mex Thanksgiving! And, I'm using the Fiesta dishes instead of the Blue Willow this year!!! Think I'll make the squash casserole, too. Mike is going to smoke a ham-must give ya those directions!! We coud SELL those things if we had time to do them! BUT, how about coming up with a tex mex dressing?? THANKS for lifting my spirits for Thanksgiving!! Also, on the Ro-Tel blog, do you know when the contest for the first time ends? Im fixing to change my e-mail stuff up, but Mike said to wait until that contest is over–he loves that grill, and I guess he thinks I'm the only person to enter the contest!ha! Thanks for your blog!!!

This soup sounds delicous. It reminds me also of a Tamasin Day Lewis sweet potato and ginger soup.Its the same method, the only veg is the sweet potato and onion and the spice is ginger only, but at the end, after blending you add (heavy)cream, tamari, maple syrup and lime juice.

She says "… the soup should taste deep, warm, sweet and slightly spicy. If the flavour seems slightly on the surface, add a little more tamari – it will have a wonderful grounding effect".

I will definitely try yours when I can get some chipotles – not so easy to come by in England.

I have everything on hand to make this soup, and I've been looking for a different way to incorporate sweet potatoes into my holiday meal. One questions: why store your sweet potatoes in the fridge? I never do that but maybe it's the best way?

I've been thinking about this ever since you posted it.I'm so happy it uses chicken broth instead of cream. I also love the earthy flavors paired with sweet potatoes as opposed to the typical marshmallows and sweet stuff. I had walnuts so I did the walnuts in cinnamon, ground espelette, and a dash of Louisiana hot sauce, & course sea salt (great cocktail party food, thanks for the bonus) I know this will become one of my fall favorites!

TexasBlueEyedBandit–Fiesta dishes always perk up any occasion! And my uncle makes a wonderful Tex-Mex dressing, which I'll have to watch him make so I can write about it.

Jo–I love the addition of tamari! As for chipotles, have you tried mexgrocer.co.uk?

CosmicCowgirl–The pecans have become my new favorite snack. They're addictive!

Lydia–If it can't be stored in a jar then it goes in the fridge as I'm afraid of attracting little furry creatures!

The Fashionable Traveler–Glad you enjoyed it! And good to know that walnuts can be substituted for the pecans. I love that you perked them up with espelette and a dash of Louisiana hot sauce–I'll have to try that!

I made this yesterday and just want to say hot damn! that's good eating! And even hotter today since the chipotles tend to do that 🙂 I left some of the soup unpureed since we like soup a little chunkier at my house. This is gonna get made again soon…I'm thinking soup party. Thanks for sharing the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Lisa, ever since I saw the photo I haven't been able to get this soup out of my mind. I posted it on my Facebook page and had my friends drooling.

Last night I made it, and it was delicious! I didn't have any chipotle in adobo, but being a good Texan I had some dried chipotles and once reconstituted were delicious. I also am dairy free and try to stay away from soy so I used MimicCreme instead of sour cream…delicious! I ran out of chipotle powder a while back and so I used Pasilla on my pecans, and they were WONDERFUL.

I was a little surprised by the sweetness of the soup, but perhaps my carrots were too big. I still loved it, it was just not what I was expecting. I will definitely make this again! I am also going to post photos on my blog this evening, not as pretty as yours though 😉 Thank you for the wonderful recipe!

Heidi–Excellent news! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. And soup party? What a wonderful idea!

Kevin–Yes the do! It's one of my favorite combinations.

TBSamsel–That sounds like a fine idea!

Asriel–Yes, the cinnamon and ginger are ground. Thanks for pointing that out to me–I'll revise the recipe!

Marissa–It is a bit sweet, but perhaps if you cut back (or even eliminate) the carrots it would be less so. And I love that you used pasilla on your pecans–I need to grind some of mine up and try that combination! Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa, the Pasilla spiced pecans were SUCH a hit with my boyfriend. I am even thinking about making a batch for his parents for Christmas.I am headed to Houston to see my family over Christmas and I am bringing a suitcase to pack with dried chilies 😉

I have to say that the soup was even better today. This time I stirred in the vegan cream (MimicCreme) instead of just drizzling it on top. Love!

Hi Everyone, I wanted to tell you that I made this recipe today and it is absolutely amazing, extremely flavorful, and pretty easy. That being said a warning to those who haven't adjusted their tastebuds to a bit of spicy yet – the Chipotle Chiles(canned) were a bit of a surprise for me. I had no idea they would be quite as spicy as they are and I am quite thankful the sourcream dollop is included in the recipe. It did make all the difference as to whether I could eat a bowl or not. I have no idea if I was suppose to remove the seeds from them since they were canned or if for me "the weenie" I should have started with one then maybe added another half, but either way…..I WILL absolutely make this recipe again! I highly recommend it!Next I am going to try the Hatch Potato Casserole recipe – I can't wait! This is my only blog as a follower and totally my favorite!

I tried this tonight and added one roasted golden beet — nice earthy undertone — and served it with homemade sourdough croutons and sprinkled the top with a little gorgonzola. Turned out pretty well…thanks for the inspiration.

WOW, this was delicious, but SPICY! I have an extremely high spice tolerance, so I figured I could handle two chipotle peppers no problem, but the spice level pushed my limits. Next time, I'll use one pepper. That said, my father and I thought this was a fantastic flavor combination. I served the soup with cheddar-jalapeno scones. I'll be making this again, with the heat dialed down!

I really liked this. I didn't have chipotles, so I added about 1Tbs of chipotle powder. In addition, I threw in a red pepper with the carrots. Oh, and I threw in a diced habenero too which is kicking my ass right now and gives the soup a great flavor.

I am enjoying the leftovers right now! I made this without the pecans and added a little splash of orange juice at the end. Really good! I love the warmth of the chipotle.Quick tip- either remove the seeds from the chipotle before adding, or strain the soup after pureeing to weed out the seeds.

I made this tonight and wow – it is perfect. Smoky, sweet, comforting. I did underestimate the power of the chipotles, though – I used three and probably would've been fine with one. A big dollop of creme fraiche evened it out nicely, though.

Interesting all the little variations … An excellent recipe!!!! I used Greek Yogurt as my stir in, and sprinkled with roasted and salted pipitas right out of the bag … excellent … Someone was surprised at the heat of the chipotles… I use the cans with some regularity and find some peppers are just hotter than others so you never know if you need more or less till you try … and it can be different each time. Excellent!!!! (my tip… freeze extra chipotles from the opened can in a ziplock bag placed flat with all the air squeezed out .. then can just break off what you need next time.

Yum yum! Just made this tonite! Loved the flavor! Was in the mood to have soup and looked online for sweet potatoes soup and found you had recipe! Whoo hoo! You sure are a great cook and love your ingredients and of course pictures that tempts us! I didn't have celery, cloves or nutmeg and neither did I have pecans. I added Jamaican allspice, coriander and cumin (1/2 tsp for each) plus a few drops of tamari. Mashed by hand. Will definitely make this every winter! Thanks for this recipe! Ya rock!

I've been looking for a heart healthy sweet potato soup and yours sou ds perfect. There's a store here in town that makes one I love that I'd like to diicate but yours sounds even better. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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